Get ready to dive into the world of personal branding with Artem Lomaz on this episode of MYWB! 

Artem and host Kevin Dennis discuss the importance of staying true to yourself while building a brand that resonates with your target audience. 

They explore how to evolve your brand over time as you grow both personally and professionally.

Highlights:

- Aligning your brand with your authentic self

- Using constructive criticism to refine your brand

- Adapting your brand to changing industry trends

- Drawing inspiration from others while staying unique 

- Elevating your brand by exceeding client expectations

Whether you're just starting to build your brand or looking to take it to the next level, this episode is packed with actionable tips to help you succeed. Don't miss this engaging conversation about the power of personal branding in the wedding industry!

Connect with Artem:

Website

Instagram

Connect with Kevin:

Wedding IQ

Fantasy Sound

Instagram

TikTok

Welcome to mind your wedding business podcast. I'm your host, Kevin Dennis. In addition to leading the charge at Weddingiq, I also run fantasy sound event Services, a lighting and entertainment company based in Livermore, California that I founded over 35 years ago. Each week on this podcast, you'll hear thought provoking and empowering interviews with wedding professionals who have found success in the industry. If you're a business minded wedding pro who loves love but also cares about their bottom line, buckle up and get ready to learn from a new industry expert each week. All right, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the next episode of mind your wedding business. We're going to be welcoming Artem Lomaz. Artem is an international wedding and event master of ceremonies.

Artem Lomaz has built his brand as the go to MC for luxury weddings and events. Whether accompanying a DJ or a band, the award winning MC has refined his role and is known to industry insiders as meticulous performer. Combining the hospitality and etiquette, Artem helps bring weddings and event storyboards to life. As a speaker, he brings his expertise in luxury services and his personal branding to stages worldwide. So we're going to be welcoming Artem Lomaz into our podcast. All right, welcome to another episode of mind your wedding business. We have the one and only Artem Lomaz with us. He's going to be talking about personal branding, identifying how to set up your brand and position it accordingly, and how branding plays into advertising and promotion.

So welcome to the show, Artem.

Thank you so much for having me, Kevin. I appreciate it.

Yeah, I'm really excited because branding, I think, is on the personal side is I think people kind of forget, you know, that's an important part of, you know, getting recognized. And, you know, I have been known for wedding socks and for the southwest first class seat. So I get people all the time. I'll be at weddings and people will literally pull up my pant legs to see my socks, which is kind of awkward. And then I get people all the time either sending me photos, tagging me in Instagram if they're in that southwest seat. So, you know, let's, let's dive in and start talking about personal branding.

Yeah, absolutely. I think it's weird that people are pulling up your pant leg, but I.

Think at the same time I do too.

You know, at the same time, I guess if you're that guy, I don't know why they feel the, the authority to do it, but they want to see the socks, which I guess in some ways a testament to your personal brand. That's fantastic. But yes, what you mentioned is a lot of people, sometimes it's not that necessarily they neglect it. Is that something? It's. You're always focused on the business element and you're always thinking. We always try to think a few steps ahead. And when you're doing that, you're thinking about marketing and that makes sense. But the problem is branding is the foundation and you can't really properly market unless you have a specifically defined brand.

So you can start to market. It just won't be defined because your brand isn't defined. But that's sort of the bad news part of it. The good news is everyone has a personal brand. It's just possibly not defined by you quite yet. Or maybe it's not defined from a business perspective. But one of the first things I always suggest people do, and this is sort of a silly exercise. And I learned this a few years ago back with going through kind of my marketing, just going through my background is in advertising as well.

So I kind of just have been keeping up with what people have suggested to do. And this has been in a couple books also. It's a silly exercise, but it does help because you start to realize what people see from their outside perspective versus what you feel like your personal brand is. So the exercise is to get a couple people together and just ask them what are your top three traits when you're asking about yourself? Right. So you want to see the outsider perspective and with that group you want it to be a little bit of a mix. So let's say like three maybe family members. I think sometimes family is a little too close, right? So they know you personally, which is good, but get a few family members, and then get a few, maybe past clients, and then get a few people who are just acquaintances in the networking world, and then three close friends, then once you have that mix of ten to twelve people, which words are coming up most frequently, and then make a list yourself and compare that to their list and see what aligns. And if it aligns, great.

That means you guys have hit on something that does make sense. And if it doesn't align, does that mean you need to either redefine yourself or redefine your brand? I think it's always easier to redefine a brand than yourself. Cause you don't wanna live a brand that doesn't reflect who you are. I mean, you can, but probably not the most fun thing to do. But I feel like if you have a brand that is authentic and reflective of who you are and then from there, that can carry into your business brand and how you carry yourself, for the most part, small business owners. You know, even if you're not the face of the brand, like if you're selling things online and no one even knows who you are, maybe your personal brand doesn't matter. But in reality, if you're going to networking events, you're the face of. So it's a case of, yes, maybe you're promoting a website and you're nowhere to be found on that website, but in our industry, even if you're sending people out, you're still the person who is behind the banner name.

So I think the key is honing in on your true personal brand, how that works, and then using that to put the pieces in place for marketing and promotion. So the personal brand is the baseline.

Okay, so let's grow from that or maybe back up real quick. So it was kind of, you touched on something there that you said, if you're out networking, you are the brand. And it kind of, I can't tell you how many times, and it's probably bad on my part that I thought someone was the business owner of a certain business because that's who I met and that's who I associated with that business so many different times and come to find out they were a manager, a salesperson or something along that line with that business because they did a really good job in, you know, making themselves known as the brand of that business, so.

Totally.

Yeah. Yeah, it just, it was really interesting. So.

But that's also a testament to them because they've now taken on what that brand means. That's a testament to whomever the true owner is being able to define and parlay that information to that person who's now a representative of their brand, and then for that person to properly represent that brand. So when you are out and about and your team is out and about, you want it to be aligned with what your values of your brand are, to take that position. So that's. Yes, very well put. It's very important that not one person is living the brand if there's more than one person in the company.

Yeah. And I think that's where a lot of business owners, you know, where they probably fail when it comes to, you know, getting their brand out there is that they don't really bring it down from top to bottom. They might focus on just the top, maybe not the bottom. So what are some things that people can do to really get, you know, get the brand? You know, for everyone out there.

Yeah, no, that's a great question because it's about values. So once you've, and it's kind of like a cliche at this point to say find your why. Right. But when you start to redefine why you're in the industry, why you're doing what you're doing, and then why you need to bring people on board, it needs to be reflective of the true core values of your why. So when you do that and you go, okay, I started in the wedding industry because x, y and Z and whoever I bring on board, whoever I'm working with, needs to understand that and then also reflect it. So to answer your question, it's really a matter of being authentic to why the brand exists in the first place.

Yeah, that's, well, and that's a good point because I think that's where a lot of people, you know, they've, they are imposters, I guess would be maybe way to do it is that they're not really their true selves when they're out there, you know, or even when it comes to, or they'll put on a face when it comes to meeting with clients, and then there's someone totally different behind the scenes.

So that's very well put because I think it's not necessarily that they're intentional imposters. I think a lot of times we craft what we think the client or the prospect wants to see, and that's where you start to move further away from your why. Right. So sometimes you ask people, why are you in whatever industry? And they go, well, the money, like, yeah, but you can make money in so many different ways. You can decide to do any other industry, but there's a specific reason you chose. And in our industry, it's a very specific industry. So there's a reason you chose to be here, hone in on that reason. But when you start to then sort of posture or position where it's not reflective of your true self, then you start to get into trouble.

Because not only now are you not really living up to your brand, you're also putting something out there that's possibly going to disappoint the client once they realize that's not really who you are. And then also what it does is it misaligns the relationship and then you're potentially negating future references from that. Right. That kind of makes sense. Right. Like if you're going to do something that's disingenuous, not a lot of good is going to come from that.

No, never ever. And that's where I think a lot of people, you know, well, even, even like, own your mistakes, you know, you know, that's the biggest thing that I think a lot of people make a mistake and then, you know, the relationships, you falling back on your values, all that kind of stuff, if you own up to it, people are going to respect you a whole lot more than when you try to cover it up and all that kind of stuff too, so.

Totally. And I think a lot of, a lot of red flags aren't red flags in the moment. Retroactively you're like, oh, that was a red flag. But you learn as you go and to your point, you own that and you move on and you realize that that's something you take with you as you evolve in your brand. And that's another part of it where brands evolve, just a human being, and especially if your personal brand reflects who you are. So if your brand is the same that it was 20 years ago when you first started it, I don't know, chances are you're not the same person. So maybe it's time for a brand refresh or a reposition or something, or maybe it's time to grow as a person if you're the same person that you were 20 years ago. So, yes, there's a lot of evolution that has to consistently take place as well, and that's.

So how often should someone look at a brand refresh? I've been in business for 30 something years. How often should I be looking at that?

My answer would have been different ten years ago. But I think now, with just how quickly everything is changing technologically and just how things are in terms of expectancy. And you and I have chatted about this personally, what is considered luxury now is going to be standard in five years, if not less. Right? So now luxury would have been blowing people out of the water. What standard is now was luxury ten years ago. Right? So I think if I, if I were to say it now, as of today's date of recording, I would say, you know, every, every five years, maybe three to five years. And it doesn't mean you need to do a whole rehaul of your brand, perhaps just a repositioning or something where people know X, Y and Z about you and then add another like, oh, X, Y and Z, but also a, B and c, maybe just another layer, and you focus more on that layer instead of the older one. One of the biggest things, the examples that I use is I do destination events and I have a lot of friends that do destination events.

As you get older, you may not want to do them as much. I have friends that have done it for 20 years, and now children have come into play, they don't want to be on the road every weekend. That's a case of when you have a big life change that could change your brand, and that's great because that means your life is changing and it's okay to adjust your brand accordingly. If someone calls you and you did their event 20 years ago, you can go, hey, I no longer do that, that and that. I do this now. And I don't think anyone's gonna get offended because I don't think they're doing what they were doing 20 years ago either.

I know. No, looking back 20 years, I'm not doing what I was doing back then either, so.

Right, right. For better or for worse.

Yes, actually, I would say for better. So I. Yeah, no, I started out as a dj, as you know, and I was doing a lot of school events and I have not done a school event in about twelve to 13 years. I have not looked back.

So, yeah, no regrets though, I'm sure.

Zero regrets when it comes to. Yeah. Having skittles thrown at you and all that kind of, you know, fun, fun things that has, comes with a. You're a crappy dj. Cause you're not playing the dirty rap song and all that kind of stuff.

So that hasn't changed, I'm assuming.

No, I would. I would say it's probably even worse now, so.

Well, that's the thing I wanted to bring up the point of, because things evolve now, it's going to be they're throwing skittles at you while they're also filming you to see if you freak out and they can go on viral on tick tock. Right. Who knows?

Exactly. Well, no, yeah, exactly. And that's, that's the world we live in right now, so.

And that's also part of the evolution. Your brain has to evolve with what's happening. You know, I. I'm not a big social media person just because personally I'm not, but I understand it's a necessary evil. And that's one of those things wherever. Not necessarily evil, but it's a necessity. Right. It's something where we, we have to get acclimated to certain things.

Even the big talk now as a recording is AI. And that's something where you could look at it as a threat, you could look at it as an opportunity. So there's always something evolving that we can build a brand around.

Yeah, yeah, very true, very true. So, you know, as we move towards, you know, building the brand, you know, like where, where, where should one look? I don't know. Should they look outside at other brands to get ideas or where should they go?

Simply put inward.

Okay.

Look inward to see, because you're talking about personal brand, I think you want to make sure it's reflective of who you are. To your question, though, I think it's absolutely always a good idea to look outside for ideas, just to see if you can see, like who's honed in on a, on a really good brand opportunity, especially from a personal perspective. And I think it's a wonderful idea to get mentorship. That's essentially when I started, I looked at a few people where I said, I like what they're doing. Let me see if I can have a conversation. And that really turns into reach out and see who's willing to have a conversation with you and who isn't. I think for the most part, most people will talk to you. The beauty of it is they can give you all the blueprints and all the secrets to their trade, but you can't replicate it because you're not them.

But you have to create something that's you. That's, again, a reason. Look inward. So when it comes to the time where you're then the authority getting questions, then you could do the same thing and pass on that knowledge and wisdom and say, this is the blueprint, but you're going to have to kind of put your own mark on it. So it's really more about looking inward while also gaining mentorship and just gaining some exposure to other brands where it makes sense for us to take a look at people in the wedding industry. It makes sense for us to take a look at maybe entertainers or just different service providers. It doesn't make sense for us to look at, you know, manufacturers of purses. Like, yeah, there is an aesthetic to certain things in terms of branding, but we are service providers, we don't sell goods, so it doesn't make sense for us to look in that direction.

So understanding where you are and what correlates to what you are providing from there, then you can get those ideas that make sense because there's certainly things that work but don't align with your brand or your.

Oh, yeah, well, and that's a good way of thinking about it, too, is like, you got to look inside. Yeah, well, because I feel a lot of people, the wedding industry is a very copycat. What we do we. Here's a photo on Pinterest. I want that. I saw this on TikTok. I want to do that at my wedding. So how, you know, what are some tips that you think people do to keep themselves authentic or keep themselves, you know, fresh? You know, like, are they, are you looking at it constantly and putting your own spin on it? Or, you know, like, like, how does, how do you handle that? I guess.

Yeah.

What's, what's the phrase? Comparison is the theft of joy.

Yeah.

Try not to, I try not to be too comparative, but there's also things that you and I can get inspiration from a photographer that even though we're not photographers, we can get inspiration from something. So I think it's a matter of keeping in perspective of that inspiration is okay as long as it doesn't become, like, something that you're, you're jealous of or that you're competing against. But I think the key is really to your, I guess, to your concern about the Pinterest aspiration. Right. It's kind of a thing where that's just gonna happen, just knowing that that's something we step our foot into and knowing that if we are talking to a prospect or a client, just get the, the best way to get the realization in house. Right. To say, look, this is what you want, but you want it because you saw it. But don't you want something more unique? So I think it depends on who you're talking to.

If you have someone that's like, hey, my cousin did all of this, and I want to recreate my cousin's wedding. All right, maybe Kevin's not the right person for you to do that, but you can get somebody to help you do that. But you could always, then it becomes sort of like salesmanship. Right. You can always get into that conversation to say, okay, this is what you've seen, and that's great. And that's a good stepping stone. Right. I guess the foundation is what I would use.

I would say, great. I like that you like certain things or that you like where you're coming with a plan. Right. You know that, like, instead of a Pinterest board, they got the trapper keeper of all the wedding magazines.

It's a word I have not heard in a long time.

I try to throw in a few of those. That's part of my personal brand. I try to do some throwbacks. Yes. So they have their trapper keeper of ideas, and let's say we'll go to the digital world, and they add their Pinterest board, and you go, that's a great foundation. Now, based on that, let's see how we can elevate the event, because now what's happening is they expect a certain baseline. That's good for us to know, but we don't want to hit the baseline. We want to exceed expectation, not only theirs, but their guests.

So I think that's, that's a way to sort of look at that as, okay, this is what they want. At the bare minimum, most of us, especially people who are viewers right now, know that, especially if you're going through the process of, like, wanting to escalate and elevate your, your brand and your business, we're not going for bare minimum. Right. We're not going for basic expectation. So I would say anytime anybody comes to you with, like, this is what we're thinking, this is what we want. Cool. That's great. That's what they call in the advertising industry a creative brief.

That means, okay, you have some clarity, doesn't have to be perfect, but here's some clarity of what you want and what you expect. And let's actually now put our project to it. Let's put our hands on it. And how can we spin it out to something that someone hasn't experienced before?

Interesting. So, so we've taken the time, developed, you know, looked at the why, done all this stuff, and, and now we get out there, we start putting out, you know, what we feel is who we are. What, what if it's not working? You know, what? Any suggestions there?

Yeah. It never hurts to rebrand or reposition or retool. I think if it's not, if it's not working, then, then something is amiss. Right.

Okay.

And it's a matter of, I wish there was a, a wizard or a magic wand that you could call or wave and say, just tell me what I'm doing wrong, and they tell you right. And that's something that not a lot of people want to hear, like what they're doing wrong. I would love to hear what I'm doing wrong if something's not working, because if that's just that one tweak, unfortunately, it's not that. It's pieces to a puzzle that we don't even know what the result should look like. We don't even have that little box that tells us what the picture should look like at the end. So I think that if something's not working, there's always ways to look at it and go, well, what's the piece that isn't so you lay out the plan and you say, okay, from a marketing perspective, I've done this, this and this, and it seems to be okay. Here's whether it's the funnel or here's where things are breaking down. And if it's at the point where things are breaking down at your brand, it just means it's not defined maybe clearly enough.

So maybe the problem isn't your brand, it's just how you define the brand or how your position is it.

Or they didn't take the time to go through the whole process. Could that be it? They just.

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. That'll do it. Right. If you didn't go through the process, if you're cutting corners. But the joke I always use, and especially networking, this is one of the things that I really wish I knew when I first started. Because when you start, you're getting business advice from anywhere and everywhere, and that's not always great. Right. So people tell you, make sure everybody knows about your business.

Yeah. But also that's a lot of wasted effort because there's people that know about my business that I will never work with, and that's perfectly fine, and they're just not my target audience and they're not my market. So if you're looking to target, like, young professionals and you're going to a networking event for retirees, it just doesn't align. Right. People who are retired are not in line for your service that you have for young professionals. So that's, that's, I guess, like a little bit of a case study or an example of that's just the networking part of what may not be working. What may not be working is how you're positioning your brand. So maybe you have it clearly defined.

You know, your, why, you know, your, your instinct of why you want to do this while you're in this industry, but you're putting that position somewhere where it's not being either heard at all or maybe it's being heard by not the right people. And so I think just figuring out how that plan, how that branding goes out to the mass public to get that to your audience and then picking it apart, kind of working backwards, where's the breakdown? At some point you'll find where it's not working.

Yeah. So it seems like at the end, you got to keep your mind open and be open to good, constructive criticism. And, you know, that's which I think a lot of us in this industry don't do a very good job of. You know, there's, there's people that do, but then no one wants to hear what they're not doing well, and no one wants to. You know, we're. We're too proud. I feel maybe. Maybe that's in our industry.

So I know. I mean, listen, I get it. There are certain things that I've heard where I'm like, okay, agree to disagree and just move on. It doesn't mean it's good either, but there are certain things where it's like, okay, do you want to have your pride, or do you want to stay in business for another 1020 years? So I'll take. You know, I'll take the hit to the pride if it means I'm still making money in 20 years.

Yeah. And that's what I think some of these businesses over the years just didn't think about, like, evolving, coming with the times. You know, that's something in our industry. Our clients averagely stay the same age, but we continue to get older. So how are we connecting with them? I have a friend of mine that is to the end of their career, and they're just not a very. They would rather talk to everyone on the phone. And nowadays, clients, you know, that's the last place they want to. They want to meet you, mom.

The moms will meet you there. But, you know, the clients, they don't want to meet you there. So, you know, it's like getting to where they are, you know, evolving with the times, you know, and that just. I think it all comes back to it. So.

Yeah. Oh, and that's also part of the brand, too. If your brand isn't showing that you're willing to evolve and willing to keep an open mind, that could also. You look at what impressions mean. Right. So if they get that impression that you're not willing to adjust with a the times, then maybe you're not willing to adjust your process. Everybody always says in our industry, you're wedding your way however you want it. Like, of course, that's.

Yeah, we're not good. Who's gonna go and go, hey, you want a wedding, but it's my way as the servers.

It's a, b, or c. You get it? Yeah.

Right?

Yeah, of course it's good.

Right, exactly. So they're gonna look at that and go. If you're not willing to make adjustments based on what you're doing, then maybe you're not gonna be willing to make adjustments with us as a client. And they may not tell you that, may not ever get to that point, but that's when you just get either no returns to your emails or you just go, we've gone with someone else. So there's got to be a willingness. But just such as in life, right. It's sort of like there's no handbook for parenting. And when you're a parent, you got to adjust as those ages progress.

And same thing with business. As your business progresses, you got to make those adjustments accordingly.

Yeah, and that's what I don't think. I think, unfortunately, some people don't do, which is, you know, which is hopefully the why they're here and listening and learning to move forward, so. All right, so. So time we talked about it. The why. We've talked about anything we missed.

Artem, I think I just want to quickly touch upon. I know you had asked before when we were off camera about certain things that. That I would necessarily either do differently or just understanding how to position your brand. Going back to the. The networking part of things, knowing how to properly network, I think, is essential where you get into a room full of professionals, and you and I have been in many rooms together where we're amongst our peers, and it's a little different than being in a room with 300 people who do different things. So setting your expectation when you're doing that and when you're possibly promoting your brand, it might be different. When I. I'm in an event with you and it's all our people, it's all wedding industry or event industry folks.

We have certain terminology we use together. We have certain things that we address together that we wouldn't be doing in a room full of potential clients. We don't use the same terms. So I think even that those little minor adjustments, and I think the other part of it is consistency.

Yeah, well, it's funny you mentioned networking, because I think a lot of people, you know, there's the spray and pray people that walk around the room. You know, I was, you know, WiPa's international president for a while there, and one of the complaints we would get from people is like, I joined, I got nothing. Well, okay, did you go to an event? Okay, well, then they go to event. I attended one event and I got nothing, you know, and so, and it's just like. And I think it's. People don't have realistic expectations. It takes time to build, you know, to develop all this kind of stuff, and it's. And it goes back to relationships.

People are going to want to do business, who they have a relationship with and who they connect with. And I guess that full circle goes right back to the brand, you know, it does.

But if you think about it, if you're walking into a room with 300 people, is it realistic to think you're going to become best friends with 300 people right out of the gate? Like, you might connect with two, but those two might get you a great event in ten years, and that's fine, but that's essentially what the buildup of the relationship is. To your point, one thing you really touched on that I think is a wonderful point, too, is the consistency. So not only attending the events and putting in the work for a relationship, like any relationship in life, you got to put in the work. But if you show up to an event and you want to be the nice suit guy, and you show up in a nice suit once and you go, why doesn't anybody know me as the nice suit guy? Well, you got to do it more than, like, five times for people to really take notice. And so when I do this seminar on stage, the example I give is if, let's say you hop into my car and ll cool J is on the radio, probably not gonna think much of it. You hop into my car a second time, ll cool j's on again, probably may not connect the dots. You hop in a third time, it's like, okay, maybe there's something there, but maybe it's coincidental. Once you hop into my car a fourth time and you hear, I want a girl with extensions in her hair, bamboo earrings, at least two pair, you're gonna go, okay, you're gonna connect and go, this guy is an LL cool J fan.

So it takes some consistency and consistency across the board, tonality wise, with the brand. So if you have your new logo on your website and your old logo on your business cards and your older, older logo on your instagram, it's not consistent either. So it needs to be tonality and consistency and actual showing up, you know, talk to talk, walk the walk. Consistency.

Yeah. And I think that's what people really miss. It's. It's, well, even, even to the point to take it a deeper, like, get involved, join a committee, you know, like, get out there because that's how people are going to get to know you. And then the other thing, I think people really miss the boat when it comes to that is that they're bad committee members, bad board members, and then that they don't realize that reflects their brand as well, you know, because then absolutely, yeah, yeah.

Everything you do is a reflection of your personal brand. So even if you're not in business, honestly, like, there's, you know, when kids are graduating school and they're being taught how to put together a resume and show up to interviews? That. That's a personal brand.

Yeah, yeah. It's everywhere. So when I jump in your car, you pick me up at the airport. What am I going to listen to on the radio now? I'm curious. Is it Elo?

Oh, most likely El cool.

Okay. All right.

I'm a proponent of pre, I always say pre 2008 hip hop. That's what.

All right, that's.

How about you?

If I jump in your car, I'm all over. You might hear sports talk radio. I'll be honest with you. I'm a very. I'm a very, as you know, I'm a very die hard sports person. Yeah. But when it comes to music, I'm a little, I'm all over the place. I like, from Billy Joel to Van.

I like Sammy Hagar, Van Halen. I don't know why. I've always been a Sammy guy. I actually. And he tours a lot around here. I've seen him in the last couple years and whatnot. So, anyway, we can talk about music for a long time.

So we can. And we can talk about sports for a long time, which we have.

Yes.

But I want to touch on sports a little bit, too, because sports teams, that's a brand.

Yeah.

Right. Imagine. Imagine being a fan of something for 30 years. Ups and downs, good and bad seasons. There's a lot of brand loyalty with sports.

Oh, big time.

That's something I would look at if I'm developing a brand, because that loyalty, again, like, you're a fan of a team that you were a fan of 30 years ago. The players are completely different. The results are completely different. Right. But you're still devoted to that team.

It was very itch. I just watched the latest Ted Lasso. I'm a huge Ted Lasso fan. And one of the things they said, it was either this episode or the last episode. And it made me, like, I'm still trying to figure out, like, how this whole thing's going to end and who's going to be the good guy and bad guy. But Ted said something to coach beard that, you know, hey, they were sitting in the pub, they were talking. You know, the fans were upset about something they did. And he goes, hey, this is just, you know, we're borrowing this team.

This is just. We're borrowing it. But this is theirs forever. And it's kind of funny, like what you said, you know, people make fun of me for being a Sacramento Kings fan, you know, until this year, until we actually got halfway decent, had a decent product on the table, and, you know, took the warriors to game seven. And, you know, it was kind of crazy around here in the Bay area. People. I had people out of the woodworks contact me about the Kings, you know, which is. Cracks you up, you know, when.

When the seasons weren't as good, when, you know, those. That, that. That little drought you guys had.

Yeah, little. No, huge drought. Let's get real.

What made you stick around? What made you go, okay, this isn't going well. I'll just hop on fandom for another team. No big deal.

I am very loyal when it comes to my brands. I don't. I'm not gonna jump ship. Well, I mean, especially with sports, you know, like, I'm a. I'm a Las Vegas Raiders fan. I was an Oakland Raiders fan. I was an LA Raiders fan. I'm a Raiders fan.

And it didn't matter, you know, my parents took me to Raider games when I was a kid. I remember sitting there, you know, and being connected, and probably the same can go back to with the Kings. It's like, you know, I was there at the height of. When they were good, you know, the Bibby, the, you know, Chris Weber, the Vladivok pages. I have a dog named Paige. You know, that's how loyal. That's how loyal I am. People look at you weird.

I. When you're yelling pages. But anyway, but, you know, but that's, you know, it's, you know, one. It's a feeling, you know, like, I get there and I'm weird. When the announcer start, I love the beginning of a basketball game. To me, that's one of the pomp and circumstance about starting a basketball game. To me, it is so intriguing, and that's. I just get.

I'm emotionally tied to that.

I mean, that makes total sense considering the industry you're in, so. Yeah, I think that.

Well, yeah, yeah. And, you know, and I distinctly remember last season, you know, like, I'm a season ticket holder. My son and I are at a game. We roce, you know, we would look to the left. There was no one in our section. And maybe, like, the other section was half filled. We looked to our right. No one's in the same row, Cec.

And we're trying to figure out what section had someone next in Roci, you know, but we. We were there at the games because, you know, good or bad, you know, I just feel connected to that team, and I will always be.

The reason I asked is because I wanted that response. It's an emotional connection, and that's, yeah, that's that key, that's that secret ingredient for a brand. You got to have that emotional connection with the people that you're positioning your brand towards.

Yeah. And there's, you could say there's no crying in baseball. I still cry it, you know, I, sports are very emotional. I do cry. I will say that.

Hey, I mean, look, there's, there's worse things that you could build up around loyalty and crying and things like that. So I think from a personal brand standpoint, if you can create that connection, the only way to do that is it's like making a friend. Right. You want to make a couple hundred friends that'll pay you some money across several decades. So you want to have that emotional connection with those people. And the only way to really do that is to define your personal brand based on who you are and then sort of put those pieces out there piece by piece. And that's, you know, I wish there was something more action item able, but it really becomes like, I can't give you the answer to who you are. You need to define that.

Once you define that, there are certainly steps you can take to make sure that that message comes across. But there can't be a message until you fully define.

Yeah, well, and it's almost like brand is like SEO. You're never going to figure, you know, figure it all out, what's always changing. And it's a, and that, that's where I was gonna go with that, too. And it's constantly, SEO is constantly changing. So is your brand. Yeah, it's never, yeah. Yeah.

Well, let's say you started your business and you were single and things, you know, you're looking at things in one way, one perspective of the world, and then five years down the road, you're, you're now a parent and you look at the world a little differently and then you can use your stories as a parent to then connect to other parents. Right. There's. How many people in our industry do you know where the party planners, they used to be the couple's best friend. They used to be somebody they could go and, like, get dinner with and even invite them to their bachelor, bachelorette parties or whatever they want to do. And then 20 years go by and now they're like the parental figure and now they're the authority. It still works. It's just a different role, a different brand and a different position.

Yeah. Times change. So all right, so anything you want to leave us with on branding before we move on? I have a couple. I have one or two questions for you. So.

Sure. I think consistency is the thing we really touched on. And then just honing down on who you truly are. And if it might sound silly, but you're sock, you know, silly sock guy. You're the first class seat guy. Yeah. So it's just little things that people will connect to. A lot of people like the silly socks, even if they're not silly sock wearers, they like that there's someone there that can give them that little moment of joy.

Right. That's an emotional thing. So even if it's for me, I'm, like I said, pre 2008 hip hop guy, I'll throw in references, connect you to a form of nostalgia, something that can give you a little bit of a feeling or even like, hey, I do like to wear nice suits. And if I'm the nice suit guy at an event, great. But it has to have some sort of emotional connection.

Do you. I mean, before we move on, do you think Covid changed anything when it came to branding for people?

Yeah, absolutely. I think Covid, the silver lining in some ways, is that people started to realize, especially in the destination world, you don't have to. You could do a site visit, of course, but you don't have to meet every single time in one designated location. Your first meeting can be a Zoom meeting. Your second meeting can be in person or on a call, whatever like you had mentioned. You know, there's people that are okay with phone calls. There's people that'll hit you up in a DM on Instagram. It's just like you said, meet them where they're at.

But I think it opened up. It kind of expanded the communication possibilities. I also think Covid, in some ways, I mean, as far as my experience, I can only speak about my experience. It decreased timelines where I used to get calls a year and a half out, and now they're like three to six months out. And I think that might be a case of just the. The mentality of Amazon immediate quick order mentality of a generation that has experienced that and grew up with that. And I think it might be a case of, okay, I'll just call and it'll be available. And if we make it happen, we're kind of feeding.

Feeding the monster, but we're making it happen.

I remember going through co. Even recently, we had a client, you know, ten days out before their wedding. We've met with them a bunch a different times and they called and like, hey, can you still provide all x, y, and z for my wedding? You know, and it's like, you know, and we look at our calendar, we're like, well, yeah, of course we can. You know, we're still, you know, recovering as we go through Covid and getting back to things. And so, like you said, we feed into that, which is probably not good on our part, so.

Well, I mean, honestly, I feel like in some ways, all right, if I can get a leaf blower now, and if I order right now and get it delivered tomorrow morning.

Yeah.

Why can't you come to my wedding in six months? You know, so they see things a little differently.

Yeah, exactly. No, yeah, yeah. And I've never thought you'd be honest with you. I've never correlated the two until you just said something. And it makes 100% sense.

So it's hard to get into that mindset because of just the way that we grew up versus the way they grew up. You know, it took me 2 hours to download ice, ice, baby. It doesn't. It no longer takes that.

No, that's it. Yeah, well, even that. And they even can go on a Spotify and, you know, it's instant grat. You know, I can. They could create a playlist of lo cool J's greatest hits in a matter of, like 30, maybe 90 seconds. You can do that, you know?

Yeah. And that's another reason I don't think nostalgia is going your way. I don't think it's necessarily a fad because of how accessible it is.

Yeah.

You know, when we were kids, you're like, hey, remember that thing? And like, yeah, maybe I'll see it again someday. Now it's like, hey, remember that Dunkaroos commercial from 1993? Let's look it up on YouTube.

Yeah, exactly. Or you want to play all the old Mario games. You get the little Sim and you're playing all the old Mario games on Nintendo. So anyway, absolutely. It all goes through that. Say, all right, so we're getting ready to wrap up here, sir. We are. As we record this right now, we're in the Western and Eastern Conference finals of the NBA.

So tell me how you're feeling about basketball right now.

Sir, I. I'm feeling really good. I think that I'm as you are. I'm a lifelong basketball fan. If you were to ask me 1110 years old, I would have told you I was an NBA player. I was a future NBA player. If Mary and Britney Spears didn't work out, I'd go to the NBA.

Good choice. Good choice.

Maybe it's best it didn't either one, I guess. I'm a lifelong basketball fan, and I'm seeing these playoffs, bringing in fans, like, casual fans that aren't necessarily always watching, which I think is good for the sport, and I think it's good for the NBA brand to just bring in people. I think sometimes when you have the same teams winning over and over and over again, the casual fan isn't always on board because they're kind of, you know, get stagnant. People are. It's same thing with the brand. Right. Like, if your brand is represented by the same two teams over and over, it's great for those two teams, but for the overall bottom line, I'm sure the commissioners are looking at it going like, we need somebody else in here, so. And on that note, I'm a huge LeBron James fan, and father time does seem to be undefeated, so it's, it's hard to watch.

But maybe we're, we're recording this now. Maybe something will happen in the next few games. I doubt it, but that's off to the teams that are making it happen. And I think it's great. I think that where we stand right now, I think it's. It's good for people to sort of see. And I think if you have, like you mentioned, you go to basketball games with your son. If you have kids that are interested in basketball, have them watch, you know, I'll say it.

Have them watch the Miami Heat. Have them watch the ball movement that's happening. It just goes to show that half their team right now is, like, undrafted players.

Isn't that amazing?

Yeah, it just goes to show you that it's a, it's a team sport. That's why I don't ever like the, like, greatest of all time arguments, and I don't like the who's the better player because team support.

Yeah.

So there's so many factors that go into an individual's success.

Yeah.

And then, of course, into team success. And in some ways, you can correlate that to our industry. You know, there's a lot of things that I can do as an emcee, but if a photographer hasn't caught that or, you know what? There's something I could do as an mc to mess up something for a photographer.

Oh, big time.

It's all teamwork, too.

Yeah. Yeah. It's interesting that you said about the heat, about them being undrafted and stuff, because they were as I was coming into work, I was listening to sports talk radio, uh, and they were saying, take Popovich out of the equation. Is Eric Spoltra the best NBA coach, you know, going right now? And you. You probably. You can't argue that at all. You know, like, there's. I don't think there's anyone better, because he.

Over his 15 year career, he's been in the playoffs all but three years.

But I love that it weaves into our theme because we talked about adjustment, too. He's adjusted and evolved, you know, and especially coaches like that, when they have, you know, he started with LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and, and Chris Bosh. He had a very different team that he has now, and he's evolved each time when he's gotten his new pack of players, if you will.

Yeah.

So that goes to show that that's part of his personal brand, being able to adjust and make adjustments in game. So that's. I. It's hard to argue that if you take Popovich out of the equation.

Yeah, no, it really is, because I. Well, and Popovich is. I mean, when he got pretty lucky in the. In the, you know, gonna get that kid from France and. Yeah.

So, yeah, I know everybody says that about Phil Jackson, but you know what? Like, yeah, he was. He was granted Jordan Pippen, but he brought in Rodman and had to navigate that.

Oh, yeah.

All the things we know now in retrospect, and then just, you know, if you can go do it with multiple teams or multiple reiterations of team, I don't care if it's the same franchise, but when you could do it with different groups of players, that's a testament to a good coach.

I agree. I agree. All right, so one of the things we like to do before we wrap up, what's your favorite, favorite part of a wedding?

Favorite part of a wedding for me, and maybe this is selfish, but for me, it's introducing their first dance. I like to put a little customization, a little personalization on it. I do sort of like a 60 to 92nd introduction about their first dance, because to me, I essentially call it the culmination of their courtship. It's essentially everything that they've experienced leading up to this very moment. And then also, selfishly, a hug at the end of the night to know you did a great job. That's also actually.

There's nothing better than that. That's really. Yeah, yeah.

But that culmination for first dance, because it's kind of like. All right, we've gone through all this. Imagine all the things their relationship has gone through, and we're all here in this, you know, talk about all the things that had to happen for all of us to be here. And there's one moment in place in time for this one song.

Yeah.

Gonna dance to. And no one else moves during this.

No. That's the best. Yeah, that's. That's amazing. So, all right, so how do. How do people connect with you and find you?

Artem bestway. Artemlomas.com. just my full name. A r t M l o M A Z. As I mentioned, I'm not big on social media. I'm trying to change. I'm trying to be a little bit better, trying to be a little bit more, uh, I guess, active. Um, so at Artem Lomas, uh, Instagram, and at 93 entertainment, all spelled out 93 entertainment.

Um, and then, you know, if you want to go old school, Facebook, whatever else. I don't know what. I don't know what other social media is coming down the pipeline, and in a couple of months or years, but I'm sure I'll have to get on that and adjust as we all do. But best way, artemlomus.com, you just shoot us a message, and I always make sure I get those. Inevitably, they come to me at some point, someone, and it might be a mutual friend of ours, but someone in the industry pointed out to me that I don't do fun, wacky socks. Okay, so, you know, I'm not a fun, wacky sock kind of guy. Maybe beige is the most. I'll go, it'll be the most thing you'll see from me.

That's. That's fun and wacky, but he goes, okay, I will get you fun socks, and then you're gonna have to wear them. And I kind of brushed it off, like, okay, he was just joking. And then next time I saw him, he got me these Dennis Rodman socks.

Oh, that's amazing.

I'm a Rodman fan. And he got me these socks, and then. So I had to one up the joke, yeah, I'll get you socks that you have to wear your next event. And I had my headshot put on socks. I had to order in bulk. Oh. Then I gave him the pair as a gift, and then I'm left with these that are socks with my headshot on them that now I've given out to family members who think I'm insane, but those are the only two that I have. But those are my wacky socks for you.

So I need to prepare for you.

Well, it's funny because I have socks with Alan Berg's face on it and Megan ealy's face on it. So you might have to send me your socks, and I might. I might have to wear them at the next event that we're at together.

We could do, like, a sock exchange. So is it. Is it Alan and Megan or. Those are two separate pairs.

Two separate pairs.

So that's amazing. At some point, we'll have to get. If you can get, like, the whip aboard together for a photo and just get socks made, everybody.

Oh, that would be. That would be pretty funny. So.

Excellent.

So, anyway, all right, well, artem, I can't thank you enough for taking the time to be here with me today, you know? Yeah, no. As always, we could probably do a whole episode or podcast on just basketball, because I found every time we talk, we enjoy it. We can do it. We found something else. But we also can probably talk about all the, you know, the late, late, I call it late nineties, early, two thousands, hip hop and all the. All the rap. We could probably do a whole other one on that as well, so.

Absolutely. Yeah. I'm down for either one of those. What is it, the final start June 1? Something like that. Let's do a final special.

There you go. There you go. All right. Well, Artem, thank you for being here today, and we really appreciate it.

Thank you for having me, Kevin. It was a pleasure. It was a blast. Thanks again for the hospitality.

Your pleasure. Thank you to our listeners. Thank you for tuning in to another episode of mind your wedding business podcast, brought to you by weddingiq. I hope you've enjoyed listening to this episode. Please get in touch with me if you have a topic you would like for me to cover, or if you are in the area of your business you would like you're struggling with, let us know. We'll be happy to help. I encourage you to check out our other episodes on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. And if you're a fan, we'd love to hear from you, and we'd love for you to subscribe to our podcast and leave a review.

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